Mechanisms of Salt Tolerance in Olive Plants

Effects of salinity stress on water desalination, olive tree (Olea europaea L. cvs ‘Picholine’, ‘Meski’ and ‘Ascolana’) growth and ion accumulation

“…An important mechanism to avoid the deleterious effects of salinity in olive trees is the ability to limit uptake and/or transport of saline ions (sodium and chloride) from the root zone to aerial parts [8,25]. The same author indicates that salt tolerance in olive cultivars is associated with effective mechanisms of ion exclusion and retention of sodium and chloride in the root [6].…”

“…Ion exclusion and compartmentation at the root level regulate ion concentration in the xylem sap preventing accumulation of potentially toxic ions in the aerial parts [8,25]. The same authors indicated that this mechanism seems to work effectively at low and moderate levels of salinity (up to 50 mM NaCl around 3 g of NaCl·l −1 solution) but it considerably slows the rate of plant growth.…”

Can elevated CO2 improve salt tolerance in olive trees?

“…Salt tolerance in olive trees has been related to the their ability to decrease leaf osmotic potential and salinity tolerance in different olive tree cultivars has been linked to Na + and/or Cl À ion exclusion mechanisms or to the retention of salt ions in roots (Tattini et al, 1994), preventing the accumulation of Na + and/or Cl À in shoots . Consequently, the high salt tolerance of olive genotypes such as 'Arbequina', 'Picual', and 'Lechín de Sevilla' (Marín et al, 1995) has been associated with their capacity to restrict Na + accumulation in leaves.…”

Plant Growth, Nutrient Concentration, and Leaf Anatomy of Olive Plants Irrigated with Diluted Seawater

“…In the Mediterranean region and in other areas where olive (Olea europaea L.) is cultivated, serious salinity problems often arise due to the soil, the hot and dry weather, the use of low-quality irrigation water, and the infiltration of seawater into the ground water (Zekri and Parsons, 1989;Therios and Karagiannidis, 1991;Tattini et al, 1994).…”

“…Salinity, mainly that created by inclusion of NaCl in the nutrient solution, has been shown to affect growth, nutrient composition, photosynthetic parameters and water relations of olive plants (Therios and Karagiannidis, 1991;Tattini et al, 1994Tattini et al, , 1995Tattini et al, , 1997Bartolini et al, 1991;Benlloch et al, 1991Benlloch et al, , 1994Klein et al, 1994;Heimler et al, 1995;Gucci et al, 1997;Chartzoulakis et al, 1999;Loupasaki et al, 1999;Vigo et al, 2002). Sharaf and Hobson (1986) showed that in tomato plants seawater had in general a similar effect to that of pure NaCl solutions, except that less Na was taken up by the plants.…”